Orc Magicians
|upkeep_cost = |num_figures = |moves = |melee = |ranged = |defense = |resist = |hits = |abilities = Ranged Attack x4 Missile Immunity Fireball Spell x1 }} Orc Magicians are a type of Normal Unit. This unit may be created at an Orc town, for the Construction Cost of . The town must already contain a Wizards' Guild for this to be possible. Like all Magicians, Orc Magicians are specialized Ranged Attack units with some spell-casting ability. Their primary attack is a fairly-strong , accurate over any distance and quite dangerous to most units - even low-tier Fantastic Creatures. Once per battle, Orc Magicians can cast a Fireball spell which is even more dangerous. Orc Magicians possess an excellent Resistance score, and are also incredibly resistant to - but are otherwise fragile. Orc Magicians require an Upkeep Cost of and to maintain. Failure to pay these costs will result in the unit being disbanded automatically. Unit Properties Physical Description Orc Magicians are a group of short, ugly, red-skinned humanoids, dressed in purple trousers and hats. They are capable of channeling magical energy into a destructive force, which the Magicians hurl at their enemies. The strong magical field surrounding the Orc Magicians deflects incoming projectiles. Orc Magicians are a , containing when fully healed. Attack Properties Orc Magicians rely primarily on a strong Magical Ranged Attack, which they can use up to 4 times in each battle. In emergencies, they will switch to a Melee Attack which is significantly weaker. Each Magician's Ranged Attack has a strength of . With no additional bonuses, each Magician inflicts about with each attack - a fairly good amount capable of going through light armor rather easily. Note that because this is a , it does not suffer from distance penalties and is accurate against any target on the battlefield. When they run out of ammunition and/or are forced to do Melee combat, each Magician attacks with a strength of . With no additional bonuses this amounts to only about per Magician, and will struggle to get through any armor. Orc Magicians are therefore discouraged from doing hand-to-hand combat if at all possible. Defense Properties The Orc Magicians possess an above-average Defense score of . They can deflect about from any damage source, on average. This is a decent amount of armor when fighting low-tier Normal Units, but will not protect the Magicians from any serious opponent. As with most Normal Units, each Orc Magician possesses only . In other words, each point of inflicted on this unit will kill off one of its . The combination of low Hit Points with a low number of figures ( per unit) means that Orc Magicians are very poorly defended, and will die very easily when attacked. This is one more reason why they should avoid Melee combat at all costs. Fortunately, Orc Magicians are surrounded by a magical field that will almost completely deflect any directed at them. When such an attack is made on the Orc Magicians, their Defense score is temporarily boosted to (!), making it almost completely impossible for any damage to go through. Finally, Orc Magicians possess a rather impressive Resistance score of . This makes them some of the more resistant Normal Units, having a reasonably-good chance to avert enemy Curses, and to survive some spell effects and enemy Special Attacks. By the time they gain some Experience, the Orc Magicians can easily become completely immune to a wide variety of Curses and Special Attacks. Other Properties Orc Magicians move at a slow , and can only traverse land tiles. The unit has no special movement properties. Fireball Spell Once per battle, the Orc Magicians can cast a single Fireball spell at a targeted enemy unit. The Fireball spell executes a single Immolation Damage attack against the chosen target. This is a very specialized kind of attack that is stronger against - the more , the stronger the attack! This is exceptionally potent against enemy Normal Units and low-tier Fantastic Units. The Fireball has a strength of . Unlike the version of this spell that can be cast by dedicated spell-casters (or the wizard himself), it is not possible to adjust the amount of invested into this spell, thus it cannot be made stronger. It will always have a strength of exactly . Targets with Magic Immunity or Fire Immunity will suffer no damage from this spell whatsoever. Basic Strategy Orc Magicians are possibly the most powerful Ranged Attack units in the Orc military. They are much stronger than Bowmen or Shamans, and even a little stronger than Priests. The additional use of the Fireball Spell can greatly help to tip the battle in your favor. On the other hand, Orc Magicians are quite expensive to produce and maintain, making their use less prevalent. The primary advantage that Orc Magicians have over Bowmen is the Magical nature of their attack. Not only can it do damage to targets with Missile Immunity, but it also does not suffer from To Hit penalties for firing at distant targets. Where Orc Bowmen may be forced to wait until the enemy draws closer, Orc Magicians can attack enemies anywhere on the battlefield with the same end results. This makes Orc Magicians terrific at taking out enemy Ranged Attackers on the first few rounds of combat. The Fireball spell should be used early in the battle to take out (or seriously injure) the most threatening enemy on the battlefield. Again, the more there are in the enemy unit, the stronger the spell, so choose your target carefully. Remember that this spell costs you nothing, so never forget to cast it! With a few Orc Magicians in an army, it is possible to cause plenty of damage to an advancing opponent or his Ranged Attack troops before Melee combat erupts. On the other hand, any enemy unit that reaches the Orc Magicians themselves can kill them very easily, so it is important to have other, stronger units in support - or withdraw the Magicians quickly when the enemy draws near. Always remember that enemies possessing Magic Immunity will shrug off the Orc Magicians' attack. In these cases, Orc Bowmen would have the upper hand. Ability Overview Ranged Attack x4 * This unit may use a instead of a Melee Attack 4 times in each battle. Once the unit's ammo is expended, it must resort to Melee Attacks. Missile Immunity * Any performed against this unit will temporarily raise the unit's Defense score to - allowing it to block virtually any incoming damage. * or attacks do not trigger this effect, and will damage the unit as normal. Fireball Spell x1 * This unit may cast the Fireball spell once per combat at any enemy target. The spell is cast at its default strength (no additional invested). * This spell-casting does not take out of the Wizard's pool, nor does it reduce the Wizard's Spell Skill for this battle. * Immediately after casting the spell, the unit's turn ends. It may not move or attack until its next turn. Experience Table The following table illustrates how Orc Magicians improves as they gain Experience. Any properties that are not listed here do not improve with Experience in any way. * To achieve this level, either the Warlord Retort or the Crusade spell must be in play. ** To achieve this level, both the Warlord Retort and the Crusade spell must be in play simultaneously. Average Damage Output The table below details the average amount of damage that each in an Orc Magicians unit will deliver with each type of attack, based on . It can be used in comparison to the target's Defense rating to figure out the chance of hurting that target. Acquisition Orc Magicians may be produced in any Orc Town. A town must contain a Wizards' Guild to be able to produce Orc Magicians. Should a town lose an existing Wizards' Guild, it can no longer produce Orc Magicians until a replacement structure is built. The Construction Cost of this unit is . Orc Magicians may appear for hire as Mercenaries. They may already have some Experience on being hired, and several units may be hired simultaneously. Hiring these units requires a certain cost in that depends on many different factors. Orc Magician Mercenaries have the same Upkeep Cost as a normally-constructed unit. Category:Units Category:Normal Units Category:Orcs Category:Magicians